by Julie Rowe
Connor got himself right side up and yelled into her ear, “Hang on!”
She made sure she had a good grip then nodded.
Connor surged forward, shoulder checking one man out of the way better than any hockey-playing enforcer. He continued moving, almost dragging her along with him past another couple of people.
Something got in between her legs, tripping her, and she went down. Sophia tried to hang on to Connor, but she was knocked to one side, effectively ripped away from him.
Smoke was billowing throughout the hallway, cutting visibility down to zero, three feet above the floor. All she could see were legs. Most of them were dressed in off-base clothing and no one looked like Connor, Smoke or River.
Get out, get to the lab.
Sophia got on her hands and knees and crawled, trying to avoid all the booted feet dancing around in the smoke. A man fell to the floor right in front of her, his face only inches from her own. He stared at her for a partial second, then yelled something at her in a language she didn’t understand and grabbed the collar of her shirt.
She tried to jerk herself out of his hold, but he wouldn’t let go.
That’s when she remembered she had a gun. She pulled it out and raised it, pointing it in his face.
He let go this time, rolling away into the smoke.
Sophia didn’t hesitate—she scrambled for the door. Just before she reached it, there was another knot of people, some obviously shoving others in an effort to get out. She watched them for a few seconds and discovered something disheartening. Two pairs of booted feet appeared to take an interest in those leaving, but didn’t leave themselves.
Either they were assisting everyone in getting out of the building, or they were looking for someone in particular.
She pressed herself against the wall as more people thundered past her, then jumped in at the back of the pack, not crawling anymore, but crouching very low with her gun tucked in close to her right side, chest high and pointed straight ahead.
Just as she was about to come abreast with the doorway, another person rushed past. Something about the gait caught her attention. Smooth, yet precise.
It reminded her of the way Connor walked when he led her out of their room.
She grabbed one of the person’s legs, wrapped herself around it and brought whoever it was to the ground.
Smoke.
He was already halfway on his back, probably turning while he fell, and pointing his gun at her. When he saw her, he dropped the muzzle of his weapon, grabbed her collar and yanked her close.
“Stay low.”
No shit.
He got to his feet and rose up into the smoke, but kept his grip on her shirt as he mostly dragged her through the doorway. His hand disappeared and he turned as if facing someone on the right.
The feet on the left moved toward his back.
Nope. Not happening. Sophia kicked out at the man approaching Smoke’s back as hard as she could in the knee.
The man went down, grabbing the joint.
The man in front of Smoke went down, too.
They both saw her and one of them reached out, so she pointed her gun at him. A second later Smoke grabbed her by the collar again and hauled her to her feet. The man on the right lunged at Smoke, who lost his grip again.
“Run,” he shouted.
She ran.
The struggle, the smoke and the fire alarm had left her disoriented. She ran almost blindly for a minute before slowing down to take a better look around her.
Wonderful. She’d gone the wrong way.
She headed back toward the base, but stopped cold at the sound of gunfire. She recognized the coughing pop, pop, pop of a SCAR and her stomach dropped. What had happened to Connor? Was Smoke all right?
She started jogging toward the nearest gate to enter the base. They were going to look for her at the lab, so that’s where she needed to get to. It took a couple of minutes before the gate came into view. There were a lot of people clustered around it, most of them in uniform with weapons of some sort.
She could ask for help from one of the American soldiers, but she wasn’t entirely sure whom she should trust. The knot of people in front of the gate grew and she decided now was the time to try to get through.
Sophia dodged and danced around the swirling mass of soldiers and civilians trying to get into the base, and found herself standing right in front of the bar between her and where she needed to go. A soldier in an American uniform saw her and yanked on the arm of the man standing next to him who was turned away, scanning the crowd.
River.
He immediately stepped over her to grab her arm and pulled her under the bar. Then he frog marched her into the base. As they walked he said something into his radio.
“What happened?” he asked her when he was done talking.
“There was a fire. Connor tried to get me out, but we got separated. I found Smoke and he tried to get me out, but two guys jumped us and we got separated. Then I found you.”
“There is some weird shit going on,” River said. “I’m to get you to the lab as soon as fucking possible.”
“Are Connor and Smoke okay?”
River didn’t answer right away.
She pulled him to a stop. “Are they okay?”
“Lost contact with Connor about fifteen minutes ago. Smoke called in about ten minutes ago, said he’d found you and lost you.”
Sophia looked behind her at the flickering light the fire cast into the night. She could still see the tips of some of the flames, which meant the entire hotel must be involved. She stopped and took a step back. Connor could be back there, still looking for her. She didn’t want to lose him when they’d barely gotten to know each other. He was the most fascinating, infuriating and sexy man she’d ever met. He made her feel things in a way she didn’t know was possible. She wasn’t going to leave him behind.
They were a team.
River stopped a few feet in front of her. “Dr. Perry, we need to keep moving.”
She glanced at him with an agreeable smile. “Yes, of course.”
As soon as he turned and started walking again, she sprinted for the gate and the hotel.
She heard her name shouted behind her, but she didn’t stop or even slow down. If Connor was still in the hotel, he was probably incapacitated by smoke. Maybe he’d been knocked out by all the people trying to get out. She didn’t know what happened, she didn’t know what she could do, but she couldn’t let him die.
River was gaining on her when a shadow emerged from the dark to grab her around the middle. It knocked the wind out of her, but that didn’t stop her from wriggling in the stranger’s grasp.
“Sophia.”
She knew that voice.
“Connor?”
He set her on her feet and she grabbed his face so she could look at him. He was covered in soot and smelled faintly of burnt hair, but it was him.
She threw her arms around his neck. “I thought you might still be in the hotel,” she said in his ear.
He squeezed her. “Is that where you were running to? Because you sure as hell weren’t going in the direction you were supposed to.”
She let go so she could smack him. “Yes, that’s where I was going. I thought you might be incapacitated or dead.”
“So, what, you were running to my rescue?”
“Yes.”
He bent down so they were nose to nose and snarled, “Wrong answer.”
She sucked in a breath to tell him to fuck off, but he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along with him as he followed River toward the lab building.
River kept looking over his shoulder at them.
“What?” Connor barked after the third glance.
“Are you okay? Yo
u look like you’re hanging on to her pretty hard.”
Connor eased off on his grip a little. “I’m fine. As soon as we’re past the first checkpoint, go look for Smoke.”
River nodded, but still looked uneasy as he glanced from Connor to Sophia.
People were running toward them and past, hopefully to fight the fire. Connor and River assessed everyone moving in their direction, obviously looking for threats. She wondered what they were looking for, what they saw.
Was it a specific posture, or tilt to a person’s head that said, “I’m not an American”?
“Your hair is coming loose,” Connor said to her, his tone calmer than before, though there was still a thread of violence that made her shiver.
She quickly tried to stuff it all back into the cap she wore, but as many strands as she tucked in, that many slipped out. Finally she held the stray strands in her left hand at the back of her head.
They reached the first checkpoint.
River turned and looked at Connor. “I’m going after Smoke. See you inside. Stay frosty.”
Connor’s teeth flashed white in the darkness. “Yeah, it’s getting hot.” Then River was gone and Con was tugging her toward the second checkpoint.
“Why are we in such a rush?” she asked him.
“Because you’re not safe yet.” He tugged her a little harder.
“You’re going to rip my arm off.”
He stopped and deliberately released her.
They arrived at the second checkpoint and passed through. There were extra guards at this one.
They entered the lab building, passed by Eugene’s desk, which was empty, and went straight into Sophia’s office. He shut the door, locked it, then pulled off her cap and began checking her over for injuries with fast hands.
She tried to shove his hands away. “I’m fine.”
“Shut up,” he growled at her.
His order made her so mad she put both hands on his chest, pushed, then snapped, “You shut up.”
He growled at her, snatched her close and kissed her hard. His lips forced hers open and his tongue surged into her mouth like he was desperate to taste her. His hands slid around her, pulling her body into full contact with his, and he groaned into the kiss.
When he finally let her suck in some air he whispered in her ear, “I thought I’d lost you.” Panic and worry gave his voice a brittle quality she never thought she’d hear from a man who’d survived what he had. He’d seemed so strong, so self-contained.
Pleasure at his obvious worry—he cared about her—warred with concern that he’d care too much. Maybe she was being selfish.
She was going to die. She had no business pursuing a relationship of any kind.
Stupid, stupid girl.
Chapter Fourteen
Unfortunately, her heart wasn’t listening to her head. “I thought I’d lost you too.” Her voice quivered.
He pulled back to look into her eyes, took her shoulders in his hands and gave her a little shake. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
Shock made her sputter, “Excuse me?” Had he lost his mind?
His grip on her tightened and he snarled, “You promised you’d go straight to the lab if we got separated.”
“River was with me, sort of, so that changed the circumstances.”
“The hell it did.”
“I was safe!”
“Safe?” he asked incredulously. “You’re the most dangerous woman I know.”
“What does that—”
She couldn’t finish because he was kissing her again.
She kissed him back just as fiercely, anger burning away the last of the cold chill of the thought of Con caught in the fire.
Someone pounded on the door.
Connor wrenched his head away and yelled, “What?”
“Smoke is back and he’s got a story to tell,” said a voice through the door.
River.
Connor stared into her eyes with a fierce expression. “We’re not done talking.”
“We did very little talking in the first place,” she muttered.
He sent her one last glare then opened the door and stalked down the hall toward Eugene’s desk.
Sophia trailed along behind, rubbing her arm where he’d held on to her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the size of the bruise growing there.
Eugene, River, Smoke and Colonel Maximillian came in. All four were armed. Smoke had a blood trail down the left side of his face from his temple to his chin.
“Are you both uninjured?” the colonel asked, though his gaze was on Sophia.
“We’re fine,” Connor replied.
Sophia frowned at him. “Yes, we’re okay.”
Connor clenched his jaw so tightly she was surprised his teeth hadn’t cracked.
“What happened?” Max asked in a tone so cold, so rigid, he had both her attention and Connor’s immediately.
“Smoke woke me with a radio call, saying there was smoke coming from the lobby,” Con said. “I stepped out to check and confirmed smoke, but the fire alarm wasn’t ringing yet. It should have been. I went back into the room. The power was off, but Sophia had woken and we both grabbed our go bags and armed ourselves before leaving.
“She stuck with me most of the way to the north exit, but we got separated by a large group of people running for the way out. From there I tried to find Sophia, but was unsuccessful. She’d agreed to head to the lab if we got separated, so I worked my way out of the building on the east side. I headed straight for the gate and found Sophia and River inside the base.” Connor turned and nodded at her.
She started with, “After Connor and I got separated I continued toward the exit, but I sort of crawled along the floor mostly, so I could only see people’s feet. A man went by who moved like Connor, so I grabbed him. It was Smoke. He dragged me to the door, but two men were waiting there and one attacked Smoke. The other was moving in, at least that’s what it looked like from three feet off the floor, so I kicked that guy’s kneecap as hard as I could. Smoke grabbed me up and told me to run, so I did.” She stopped to catch her breath for a moment, then continued.
“I got to the gate, where River found me, and we headed toward the lab.” She was going to leave out the part where she tried to go back through the gate to look for Connor. She hadn’t gotten very far, after all. “Connor met up with us and we came here.” She looked at Smoke. “What happened to you?”
“Knife fight. I won.”
“That’s an awfully short story?”
“Stupid man offered a lot of money for you, Ghost.”
“He thought you were a local?” Con asked.
Smoke nodded.
“Why didn’t you just shoot him?”
“Dead men can’t answer questions.”
“How much?” Connor asked.
“Ten thousand.”
The men all looked grim.
Sophia frowned. “That’s all?”
River chuckled, then coughed to cover it when Max glared at him. “It’s not funny.”
“It sort of is,” River said.
“I’m insulted. I’m worth more than that. Right?”
“This is the second attempt, Colonel,” Connor said. “They started a fire this time.”
“Did anyone get hurt?” Sophia asked.
“No casualties reported yet,” Max told her. “But I’ll be surprised if the answer is no.”
“Why do they want me?” She couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t the world’s authority on viruses or doing advanced research. She was smart and educated, but so were many other doctors.
Max considered her with a long look. “You’re a creative thinker with viruses, a fact that’s well known in our corner of t
he medical community. Perhaps that’s it. Regardless, the way things are going, there won’t be a base left if they try for you again.”
“Akbar,” Smoke said in his deep drawl, “likes to play games.”
“Agreed,” Max said. “So, what game is he playing now?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Connor said, a smirk tilting one side of his mouth up. “We play our own game, and let him catch up.”
“What do you have in mind?” Max asked.
“Bait and switch.”
Max’s eyebrows went up. “How do you propose to do that?”
“Sofia will need to get a makeover, dye her hair. We take another female soldier and bleach her hair, then send her off as if she were Sophia to Germany or back to the States. Then we wait to see what happens.”
“That might draw out whoever is supplying Akbar with intel on this base.”
“The fewer who know about this, the better,” Sophia said. “But I think it might work.”
“Who is going to play you?” Eugene asked.
“One of the techs, Jones, is about my height and weight,” Sophia said. “She’s got dark hair, so she’ll have to dye it. Mine too, I guess.” She turned to Eugene and added, “If you go with her when she’s playing me, it would make sense.”
“Excellent idea,” Max nodded. “You can pretend to be his replacement. We’ll have to make up a name for you.”
“I’d rather just pretend to be a lab tech or something.”
“We should do this soon. Tonight,” Connor said. “In response to this fire.”
“Who wants to go find Jones?” Max asked.
“Go find her, Eugene. And see if she knows where to get some hair dye for Sophia and herself.”
“Yes, sir,” Eugene saluted, then jogged away.
“The rest of you are in sorry shape,” Max said. “Clean up as best you can in the washrooms.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. Sophia led the charge to the bathrooms, going into the ladies’ room with a sigh of relief. Connor was behaving like he was the officer, ordering her around and getting all snarly in her face.